It is little wonder that Chelsea are so relentless in their pursuit of Nicolas Anelka. As Claudio Pizarro bore down on the Everton goal just before the hour mark last night, only to squander a wonderful chance to double the home team's lead, all thoughts transferred to the nomadic Frenchman. It was the kind of opportunity Anelka tends to dispatch with consummate ease, and one that Chelsea supporters might well see him converting against Tottenham Hotspur on Saturday.

Having failed with an £11m bid for Anelka on Monday, Chelsea are expected to return with an improved offer for the Bolton striker within the next 24 hours. Avram Grant talked afterwards about his "hope" that the former Real Madrid and Arsenal forward would be available for the visit of Spurs and Roman Abramovich, along with the rest of the Chelsea hierarchy, must share the same ambition after watching Pizarro toil painfully against Everton.

Ordinarily the Peruvian would be nowhere near the Chelsea starting line-up but with Didier Drogba and Salomon Kalou away on African Cup of Nations duty for the remainder of the month, and Andriy Shevchenko nursing a calf injury, the paucity of Grant's attacking options was laid bare against Everton. There was even a place for Ben Saher on the substitutes' bench, so stretched are Chelsea in the department. It was no surprise that Pizarro, withdrawn late on, ended his evening alongside the Israeli teenager.

The statistics help to explain Chelsea's interest in Anelka. The Frenchman has collected 10 league goals this season for Bolton, as many as Kalou, Shevchenko and Pizarro - three of Chelsea's misfiring forwards - have plundered put together. Or, put another way, Anelka has scored the same number as Chelsea's first-choice front-pairing, Didier Drogba and Shevchenko. Such a productive return in a struggling side promises a goal feast among a team full of internationals.

Gary Megson met with Anelka yesterday morning to discuss the striker's future and also attempted to clarify when he can leave the Reebok Stadium, something the Bolton manager is resigned to once their valuation is met. Chelsea's predicament means that situation is expected to be resolved sooner rather than later. Apart from the Boxing Day 4-4 draw with Aston Villa, which increasingly looks like an aberration, a goal threat in the final third has been conspicuously lacking of late.

Those shortcomings are threatening to undermine Chelsea's assault on four fronts and it appeared no coincidence that Grant's team required an own-goal, headed past Tim Howard by the unfortunate Joleon Lescott, to overcome a belligerent Everton side here. Mikel Jon Obi's dismissal did not help Chelsea's cause but even after the midfielder had departed there was an opportunity to move further ahead only for the hapless Pizarro to steer his shot too close to Howard.

It was a finish in keeping with a player who has managed only one goal in 23 appearances for Chelsea this season. How Chelsea must regret their decision to sign the Peruvian from Bayern Munich as opposed to his freescoring erstwhile team-mate, Roque Santa Cruz. There is nothing new in a goalscorer failing to find his way at Stamford Bridge - Mateja Kezman and Shevchenko could empathise - but there is little fear that Anelka will suffer the same fate.

Playing with a lone striker, as Chelsea tend to favour, is a demanding role that might not appeal to all centre-forwards, yet Anelka is unlikely to be concerned. He has "previous" when it comes to foraging alone, suggesting his transition to Chelsea's style will be relatively seamless compared with Shevchenko. His searing pace will also add another dimension, with Chelsea struggling to get behind the Everton rearguard here, a Joe Cole burst in the first half notwithstanding.

It needed Florent Malouda, back after a two-month injury absence, and Shaun Wright-Phillips, who expertly dispatched the Frenchman's inch-perfect pass beyond Howard, to carve a breakthrough. Otherwise Chelsea were prosaic and can count themselves fortunate to take a lead to Goodison in a fortnight. By then Anelka ought to be a Chelsea player and, for three-quarters of the fans at Stamford Bridge last night, that cannot come quickly enough.